[2002-07-31-ZERO-ONE-Fire Festival] Masato Tanaka vs Shinjiro Otani

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Graham Crackers]

Not a bad match but not one that really stayed with me either. Tanaka is the indy underdog against the former NJPW star and that's a compelling story. Both guys are charismatic enough to carry the story but they still carry it with kickouts. That said, the reactions to those kickouts are well done and at less than 15 minutes it never wears out it's welcome. Worth watching.

[G. Badger]

A classic 16 minute tournament match. It's like in that **** 1/4 - **** 1/2 range to me. It's best described as NJPW Jrs. style with 2000 era hard hits, a hot Korakuen krowd, and tourney match urgency. Tanaka & Otani don't go for epic, they go for the win. Dangan gets busted open from a Tree of Woe baseball slide if that's any indicator. Plus, Otani's facial expressions are as top shelf as ever. He takes the drama to another level with his emoting. Totally surprised by this match since no one really talks about Zero One especially in 2018...if you're a fan of either guy, see it. It'll be one of the best bouts you'll watch this week.